1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of synthetic and analytical chemistry, and more specifically to chemical reactions with magnetically susceptible particles and apparatuses for their manipulation.
2. History of the Related Art
There has been a considerable growth in the use of magnetic particles to cause and/or regulate numerous biological reactions, including cell separation and expansion, protein and peptide sample fractionation, organelle isolation, capturing biotinylated targets, protein separation, RNA isolation, DNA purification, DNA differentiation, immunochemistry, pathogen detection, molecular imaging and drug delivery. The control and use of magnetic particles in reactions has also been the subject of keen interest of many chemists. Unfortunately, the states of the art in the development of new magnetic particles and devices for their optimal control both leave a great deal of room for improvement with respect to complexity, economy, efficiency, versatility and environmental impact.
As shown in FIG. 1, a typical magnetically susceptible polymer particle is formed through a chemical reaction between a polymer (X) and magnetite particle having hydroxyl attached thereto. The hydroxyl allows for a covalent bond between the polymer and the magnetite. In other applications, the polymer can be non-covalently associated as well as covalently bonded to a magnetic core. Many commercial variations of these types of products are available today, and are used with moderate success in the laboratory and industrial settings. To the extent that any components are devised without the use of covalent bonding with a single magnetic core, they are typically restricted to being no more than five percent magnetic material by mass, thus requiring very large magnetic fields with which to interact in a stirring or mixing apparatus.
Several devices have been described that propose to stir or otherwise cause the motion of magnetic particles. Unfortunately, each of these magnet configurations tends to result in sparse and/or weak magnetic fields. Moreover, to the extent that any of the magnets in existing devices are movable with respect to the reaction vessel, such movement only results in the movement of the sparse and/or weak magnetic field, which can further complicate the motion of the magnetic particles in the reaction vessel.
There is a need in the art for a more efficient and cost-effective magnetically susceptible polymer that includes a significant improvement in the magnetic mass as a percentage of weight and thus a higher magnetic reactivity. Additionally, there is a need in the art for new devices or apparatuses for mixing magnetically susceptible particles that employ denser, stronger and more predictable magnetic fields and have lower costs of operation and manufacture.